The demand for a continuous increase in transmission speed, data capacity and data density in integrated optical and optoelectronic circuits has been the motivating force behind numerous innovations in areas of broadband communications, high-capacity information storage, large screen and portable information display, and other areas. Although glass optical fibers are routinely used for high-speed data transfer over long distances, they are inconvenient for complex high-density circuitry because of their high density, poor durability, and high cost of fabrication for complex photonic circuits. Thus, there is a need to develop alternative materials that can at least ameliorate or address the aforementioned problems. Such materials can be any one or more of stable during phase transitions (for example, crystallization or melting), chemically stable, and stable in terms of optical loss, index of refraction, and/or density.